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Tried, Tested and True: Stories and recipes celebrating the traditions of Australian community cookbooks
Forget celebrity chefs. The books that truly reflect what most Australians cooked and ate at home for decades were put together by people you have never heard of, all in the name of helping others. Community cookbooks have raised millions of dollars for Australian charities and causes, ranging from cash-strapped local schools and churches to international movements like Variety and the Red Cross.
Many of these books were humble publications, hand-printed and stapled together by volunteers. But some, like the iconic PWMU Cookbook from Victoria, the Green and Gold Cookery Book in South Australia, the CWA's Cookery Book and Household Hints from WA and the Bundaberg CWA branch cookery book from Queensland, have outlived fleeting food fads, and are still in print and much-used today.
Tried, Tested and treasured recipes and untold stories from Australian community cookbooks celebrates this amazing tradition. Based on extensive original research, best-selling author and Gourmand World Cookbook award-winner Liz Harfull it brings to light previously untold stories about the cookbooks and the people who created them. Featuring carefully selected recipes, updated with additional tips and hints to ensure success for the most inexperienced modern cook, Tried, Tested and True is a treasure trove for your kitchen.
Many of these books were humble publications, hand-printed and stapled together by volunteers. But some, like the iconic PWMU Cookbook from Victoria, the Green and Gold Cookery Book in South Australia, the CWA's Cookery Book and Household Hints from WA and the Bundaberg CWA branch cookery book from Queensland, have outlived fleeting food fads, and are still in print and much-used today.
Tried, Tested and treasured recipes and untold stories from Australian community cookbooks celebrates this amazing tradition. Based on extensive original research, best-selling author and Gourmand World Cookbook award-winner Liz Harfull it brings to light previously untold stories about the cookbooks and the people who created them. Featuring carefully selected recipes, updated with additional tips and hints to ensure success for the most inexperienced modern cook, Tried, Tested and True is a treasure trove for your kitchen.
- GenresCookbooksNonfiction
318 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 28, 2018
3 people are currently reading
21 people want to read
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
May 26, 2020
This is a gem of small scale social history, no grand overviews but story after story about how women across Australia have got together to raise money for community projects of one sort or another by publishing collections of ‘tried and true’ recipes.
Liz Harfull has been able to identify the women who initiated the fund raising enterprises and cajoled hundreds of others to contribute recipes for publication, trialled them, chosen those that would be published, raised money for publication, sold and distributed them and often steered them through multiple editions.
Cook books raised money for war efforts, new hospitals in country towns, the Royal Flying Doctor Service, schools and kindergartens and many other community projects across the country.
To be honest, none of the recipes appeals to me, but I’m sufficiently familiar with the cooking habits and food preferences of generations prior to mine to know that they truly represent their place and time.
It’s a great insight into the ways that women in cities and country areas worked together for their communities drawing on traditional female work - cooking. Many of the books were produced in decades before married women were accepted in the paid workforce, and its clear that some of the formidable women who drove these projects would now be formidable company CEOs.
Liz Harfull has been able to identify the women who initiated the fund raising enterprises and cajoled hundreds of others to contribute recipes for publication, trialled them, chosen those that would be published, raised money for publication, sold and distributed them and often steered them through multiple editions.
Cook books raised money for war efforts, new hospitals in country towns, the Royal Flying Doctor Service, schools and kindergartens and many other community projects across the country.
To be honest, none of the recipes appeals to me, but I’m sufficiently familiar with the cooking habits and food preferences of generations prior to mine to know that they truly represent their place and time.
It’s a great insight into the ways that women in cities and country areas worked together for their communities drawing on traditional female work - cooking. Many of the books were produced in decades before married women were accepted in the paid workforce, and its clear that some of the formidable women who drove these projects would now be formidable company CEOs.
Displaying 1 of 1 review